Read Online Little Dark Secret (Storm's Soldier Book 2) by Paige Notaro - Free Book Online Page B

never took me back, she had let me see who I’d become. For that, I owed her everything.
     

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Rosa
    I fastened the belt on my cream-white polo dress and twisted this way and that to see myself in the mirror.
    I’d tried on a few things, but this one was perfect. My waist wasn’t especially dainty, but my chest and thighs swelled out enough under it. The white was warm enough to contrast my rich skin, and it didn’t look bleached with my pitch-black hair above it.
    Most of all, the dress made me look sweet.
    That was the effect I wanted. Looking at me in this, you’d never guess I was born in a poor country, or lost my father, or was a gangster girl who kept dating rough guys for far too long. I looked like I could have stepped out of Grease - well, other than the fact everyone in it was Barbie and Ken white.
    I sieved my hair until it fell down straight, put on a bit of foundation and just a smidge of eyeliner. I wanted to look good, but I didn’t want to be too bold. A tonight would be the most I’d allow tonight. It wasn’t like I was in any rush to jump Lem.
    I laughed at the idea of holding back from a guy. Could I really be this girl? I’d already picked up the pieces on most of my life. This might just be the last bit of me I had left to redeem.
    It was the deepest and darkest part of me though. Just the thought had me seeing Papá again, turning and clutching and falling.
    I clapped the sides of my head, and the thought faded. It had been a strange week. Time to go try to relax.
    I clipped downstairs in heels, careful to hold the railings. Mamá sat on a living room couch in her usual nightgown, knitting something with her eyes glued to CNN. She peeked back at me and clicked her tongue.
    “Ah, mija, you look so beautiful. Elsa, look at how your sister is dressing.”
    I realized that my sister was buried in the far couch, her dark sweatpants blending into the plush cushions. She looked up from her phone, and even smiled a little. “Not bad.”
    “Thanks, pepita.”
    I smiled warmly at her, even as she went right back to the screen. She could be sexting whoever she wanted, but if she was home on a weekend night, then it couldn’t be that serious. Maybe my good behavior was already having an effect.
    I called an Uber and went to get a glass of water before it came. I caught another reflection of myself in the darkened window, my skin only faintly visible against the darkness. I looked so serious. I tried to smile, but then only my teeth and eyes showed in a Cheshire-cat grin.
    I needed to loosen up. This was supposed to be a fun night. I was only trying to see if I could enjoy myself around someone different.
    Mamá came up to me. I let her grip my shoulders and turn me around. She had such strength in her to raise two daughters alone. I hadn’t made her life easy.
    She beamed up at me, and my eyes suddenly felt moist. Ugh, what was making me so damn sentimental these days?
    I blinked and made a face. “What?” I asked.
    “Nothing. You look so much like an adult.”
    “I am an adult.”
    “Ah, that is just a word. Adult or not, it matters who you ask. But I am your mother, you can’t trick me just by putting on clothes, Mija.”
    “I’ve always had these clothes.”
    “But today they are a costume. They are for someone else. You are trying to put on a show right?”
    My head went red hot at the thought of giving Lem a show. She hadn’t meant it that way, but the idea didn’t sit easy at all once stirred up.
    “I just want to look a bit classy.”
    “You want to look like you know who you should be.”
    There was a sudden clarity in her eyes. Maybe it was always there, but I was just seeing it now.
    “Yes,” I said.
    Mama shook her head. “You will never be just one person, Mija. Life will keep changing you. Being adult means maybe this change slows down, but it never stops.”
    “Oh.”
    “There is still big changes left for you.” She wagged a finger in my face. “But that